water erosion
Rivers carving canyons
Water erosion is the wearing away of land surfaces by moving water—rain, rivers, waves, or runoff.
It carves valleys, shapes coastlines, and strips topsoil from farmland.
The term distinguishes this process from erosion by wind, ice, or other forces: Water erosion has degraded much of the region's agricultural land.
- weatheringAtmospheric breakdown of materials
- washClean using liquid
- gullyChannel carved by flowing water
- scablandsFlood-eroded basalt terrain
- flowUnbroken forward movement
plunge pool · reforestation · arroyo · sediment · stream · carve · silt · channel · riverbank · Grand Canyon · clay · river delta · geomorphology · tributary · mudslide · ravines · soil loss · meander
- Earth processesplate tectonics, weathering, volcanism, sedimentation, earthquakes
- desert geologyslot canyon, slot canyons, dunes, ergs, mesa
- erosionwearing, wearing down, abrasion, corrosion, weathering
- geological processesweathering, sedimentation, metamorphism, crystallization, compaction
- land changeslandslides, earthquake, landslide, earthquakes, deforestation
- soil conservationcover crops, terracing, strip cropping, conservation tillage, mulching
water erosionsedimentation
Particles settling in liquid
accretion · siltation · soil formation · silting · mountain building
water erosionsoil conservation
Protecting earth's fertile layer
erosion control · land preservation · stabilization · revegetation · terracing